Dual compressive connector

ABSTRACT

An electrical connector for electrically connecting multiple photovoltaic bus bars. A casing includes first and second opposing walls. An elastic strip is bent into a bent elastic strip with a first leg and a second leg. The bent elastic strip is disposed between the first and second walls of the casing with the first leg pressing against the first wall and the second leg pressing against the second wall. The bent elastic strip is configured to hold at least one of the photovoltaic bus bars between the first leg and the first wall and another of the photovoltaic bus bars between the second leg and the second wall. The bent elastic strip may be formed of resilient spring metal with a thickness and an elastic modulus. The thickness and/or the elastic modulus of the elastic strip is/are configured so that the bus bars are inserted without requiring a tool to open a space and so that the bus bars are removed from the connector without requiring a tool to break the electrical connection.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of and claims priority to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/319,630, filed Jun. 30, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,391,385, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/646,904, filed Oct. 8, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,771,024, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/785,801 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,303,349), filed May 24, 2010, which is a non-provisional application of U.S. Patent Application 61/180,458, filed May 22, 2009. The disclosures of each of the foregoing applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electrical connector and specifically to an electrical connector used to connect photovoltaic panels.

2. Description of Related Art

Bus ribbon or bus bar is a common interconnect that is used to connect photovoltaic modules. Bus ribbon is a copper ribbon, or flat wire that may be tin plated or coated in solder. The solder protects the surface of the copper from oxidation and provides a layer of solder to form a solder joint in cases where solder interconnections are used. Bus ribbon is generally of width five to six millimeters, although some applications require bus ribbon to be more than twice as wide. Bus ribbon may serve as an input/output to a conventional photovoltaic junction box typically mounted on the back side of a photovoltaic panel.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,291,036 discloses a photovoltaic connection system including a connection box with for surface mounted diodes mounted on a printed circuit board inside of the connection box.

3. Definitions

The term “cable gland” as used herein refers to a device used for the entry of electrical cables or cords into electrical equipment and is used to firmly secure an electrical cable entering a piece of electrical equipment.

The term “tool” as used herein in the context of the present invention refers a conventional hand tool, e.g. screwdriver, or other element or accessory used for making or breaking electrically connections.

The term “longitudinal” in the context of “a strip of metal” refers to a direction parallel to the longest dimension of the strip. The term “thickness” is the shortest dimension of the strip.

The term “case” and “casing” are used herein interchangeably as the outer component of an electrical connector.

BRIEF SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided an electrical connector for electrically connecting multiple photovoltaic bus bars. A casing includes first and second opposing walls. An elastic strip is bent into a bent elastic strip with a first leg and a second leg. The bent elastic strip is disposed between the first and second walls of the casing with the first leg pressing against the first wall and the second leg pressing against the second wall. The bent elastic strip is configured to hold at least one of the photovoltaic bus bars between the first leg and the first wall. Another photovoltaic bus bar may be located between the second leg and the second wall. The bent elastic strip may be formed of resilient spring metal with a thickness and an elastic modulus. The thickness and/or the elastic modulus of the elastic strip is/are configured so that the bus bars are inserted without requiring a tool to open a space between the first leg and the first opposing wall or between the second leg and the second opposing wall. The thickness and/or elastic modulus of the elastic strip is/are configured so that the bus bars are removed from the connector without requiring a tool to break the electrical connection. A protrusion in at least one of the legs is configured to be inserted into a corresponding hole in the casing. One or both of the legs of the bent elastic strip may be slotted longitudinally over a portion thereof to form a third leg. The third leg is configured to hold yet another bus bar to one of the opposing walls. The first, second and third legs are individually connectable to said casing by individually inserting the bus bars without releasing any connected bus bars.

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided an electrical connector for electrically connecting multiple photovoltaic bus bars. A casing includes first and second opposing walls. Multiple bent elastic strips each have a first leg and a second leg. The bent elastic strips are disposed between the first and second opposing walls of the casing The first leg of a first of the bent elastic strips presses against the first opposing wall and the second leg of a last bent elastic strip presses against the second opposing wall and intermediary first and second legs of adjacent bent elastic strips press on each other. The bent elastic strips are adapted for holding at least one of the photovoltaic bus bars between the intermediary first and second legs and for holding another photovoltaic bus bar between the first leg of the first of the elastic strips and the first opposing wall and/or between the second leg of the last bent elastic strip and the second opposing wall. The bent elastic strips are formed of resilient spring metal with a thickness and an elastic modulus. The thickness and/or the elastic modulus of the bent elastic strips is/are configured so that the bus bars are inserted by poking without requiring a tool to open a space between the intermediary legs, between the first leg of the first of the elastic strips and the first opposing wall or between the second leg of the last bent elastic strip and the second opposing wall. Similarly, a tool is not required to break the electrical connection which is performed only by pulling from the bus bar from the casing and bent elastic strip.

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for producing an electrical connection of multiple photovoltaic bus bars. A bent elastic strip is inserted between first and second opposing walls of a casing with the first leg pressing against the first opposing wall and the second leg pressing against the second opposing wall. The bus bars are electrically connected by individually poking the bus bars between the legs and walls, thereby producing electrically connected photovoltaic bus bars. The electrical connection is performed by the poking without requiring a tool to open a space between the legs and the walls. Electrical disconnection of one of the photovoltaic bus bars is performed by pulling on the one photovoltaic bus bar and without releasing thereby any of the electrically connected photovoltaic bus bars and without requiring an external tool or action of another connector component. Prior to insertion of the bus bars, the casing having the first and second opposing walls may be formed by folding sheet metal. A strip of resilient spring metal with a thickness and an elastic modulus is bent to form a bent elastic strip. The bent elastic strip has the first leg and the second leg.

These, additional, and/or other aspects and/or advantages of the present invention are: set forth in the detailed description which follows; possibly inferable from the detailed description; and/or learnable by practice of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1a shows a plan view of a junction box mounted on the non-photovoltaic side of a photovoltaic panel with connectors according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1b shows a cross section, of the connector of FIG. 1 a.

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show a side cross sectional view and a plan view respectively of an electrical connector, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4a and 4b which illustrate further details of an elastic strip with additional features according to the present invention.

FIG. 4c illustrates further details of a casing, according to further aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an isometric drawing which illustrates an assembled connector with two bus bars, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process of connecting photovoltaic bus bars, according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a side cross sectional view of an electrical connector according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a side cross sectional view of an electrical connector according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

The foregoing and/or other aspects will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

Reference is now made to FIG. 1a which shows a plan view of a junction box 14 mounted on the non-photovoltaic side of a photovoltaic panel 16. One example of junction box 14 is more fully described in a co-pending US patent application entitled “Electrically isolated heat dissipating junction box” of the present inventors, though other types of junction boxes may be used. Cable glands 12 allow insertion and holding of cables which are typically terminated on a circuit board 18 or connectors 10, constructed in accordance with features of the present invention. Four identical connectors are shown in FIG. 1a but only one connector is labeled with a reference number 10. Connectors 10 are mounted on a wall 19. Circuit board 18 may typically include a direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) inverter or a DC to DC converter. Circuit board 18 connects electrically and mechanically to one end of connectors 10. The other end of connectors 10 typically receives electrical connections, e.g bus bars from photovoltaic panel 16 and optionally from other photovoltaic panels, connected in series and/or in parallel with photovoltaic panel 16. Reference is now also made to FIG. 1b which shows a cross section, at dotted line AA of FIG. 1a of connector 10, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Wall 19 which secures connector 10 is shown in cross section as is non-photovoltaic side of photovoltaic panel 16. Connector includes two components a casing 100 and a bent elastic strip 104. Elastic strip 104 is bent to have two legs each of which press on opposite walls 121 a and 121 b. One of the legs of elastic strip 104 is shown to have a protrusion which extends through a corresponding hole 123 in casing 100 to secure elastic strip 104 to casing 100. Electrical connection to connector 10 is made to electrical fixture 106 an extension to casing 100 which extends through wall 19.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 which show a side cross sectional view and a plan view respectively of an electrical connector 10, according to another embodiment of the present invention with electrical connection thereof using multiple bus bars 102. Case 100 of rectangular cross section is shown with at least one open end.

Although case 100 is shown to have the shape of a right rectangular prism, case 100 may also in other embodiments be designed as an oblique prism, a section of a square pyramid and other three dimensional shapes. Elastic strip 104, which may be electrically conductive, is attached inside rectangular case 100. Elastic strip 104 is attached to rectangular case 100 at one or both legs 104 a for example using a spot weld, silver solder, mechanical or other means of connection, so that bus bar 102 and rectangular case 100 are attached together mechanically and are electrically conductive with elastic strip 104 holding the connection together. An electrical connection is made by insertion of bus bar 102 into the space between the wall of rectangular case 100 and elastic strip 104 in the direction of the dotted arrow shown. Bus bar 102 is held in place by virtue of the pressure elastic strip 104 exerts on rectangular case 100. Electrical conductivity between bus bar 102 and case 100 is achieved by one side of bus bar 102 pressing against rectangular case 100 and the other side of bus bar 102 pressing against elastic strip 104. A feature of the present invention is that bus bar 102 a and bus bar 102 b can be both inserted into electrical connector 10 allowing for more options when connecting multiple electrical connectors 10 in various serial and parallel connections of circuits attached between bus bar 106 and inserts 102. According to a feature of the present invention, the mechanical properties, elastic modulus and/or thickness of elastic strip 104 are designed so that the elasticity of elastic strip 104 is sufficiently weak so that bus bars 102 may be poked between legs 104 a and respective walls 121 of casing 100 without requiring an external tool or another connector component and without deforming bus bar 102 on insertion. Elasticity of elastic strip 104 is sufficiently strong, however, to maintain a reliable physical and mechanical connection between bus bar 102 and casing 100 and/or elastic strip 104. A tool is not required to assist in making a space for bus bar 102 nor to break the connection.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 4a and 4b which illustrate further details of elastic strip 104 with different features according to the present invention. In FIG. 4a , elastic strip 104 is symmetric with four protrusions 141 adapted to fit into corresponding holes of and attach to casing 100. In FIG. 4b , elastic strip 104 is asymmetric with protrusions 141 in one leg only adapted to fit into one wall 121 of casing 100. The opposite leg of elastic strip 104 may include one or more slots 143 so that elastic spring effectively may have three legs 104 a, with slot 143 dividing one leg 104 a into two legs on one side. There are several advantages to slot 143 in elastic strip 104 of FIG. 4b . A redundant pressure point against wall 121 is provided and the reliability of the electrical connection to bus bar 102 is increased. Another advantage is that a third bus bar 102 may be connected independently against the same wall 121 without releasing bus bar 102 already connected on the same wall 121. Finally, slot 143 reduces the parallelism tolerance of opposing walls 121 of casing 100 since two legs divided by slot 143 are decoupled mechanically. Elastic strip 104 may be manufactured from conductive resilient spring metal such as a copper alloy, e.g. beryllium copper or stainless steel. Wall thickness of stainless steel elastic strip is typically one to two millimeters. Reference is now made to FIG. 4c which illustrates further details of casing 100, according to further aspects of the present invention. Holes or slots 145 correspond to protrusions 141 for attaching elastic strip 104 when inserted into casing 100. A solder hole 147 and a molding hole 149 in electrical fixture 106 are available for making electrical connections to one or two circuit boards. Solder hole 147, molding hole 149 and slots 145 for attaching elastic strip 104 are punched or drilled. It is readily seen that casing 100 as shown in the example of FIG. 4c may be manufactured by folding sheet metal. Casing 100 may be manufactured from a copper alloy such as brass with an optional coating of nickel for example. The coating material may be selected to minimize galvanic corrosion between the different metals.

Reference is now also made to FIG. 5, an isometric drawing which illustrates an assembled connector 10. Electrical fixture 106 is shown soldered to a solder pad 124 on a circuit board 126 through hole 149. Two bus bars 102 are inserted between elastic strip 104 and two opposing walls of casing 100. In an alternate construction, solder pad 124 may be soldered to electrical fixture 106 through hole 147. Reference is now also made to FIG. 6 which illustrates a process of connecting photovoltaic bus bars 102, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In step 603, a casing 100 is formed from folding sheet metal, casting or any other manufacturing process. Elastic strip is manufactured and elastically bent (step 605). Bent elastic strip is inserted (step 607) into casing 100. Attachment is achieved by pushing protrusions 141 through corresponding holes 145, by soldering, spot welding, or any other means of connection. Electrical connection to bus bars 102 is achieved by poking bus bars between respective walls 121 of casing 100 and elastic strip 104 (step 609). According to a feature of the present invention, a tool or another component is not required to make a space between bus bar 102 and wall 121 of casing 100 nor to release bus bar 102.

FIG. 7 shows a side-cross-sectional view of an electrical connector 10 a according to another embodiment of the present invention. Electrical connector 10 a is effectively two electrical connectors 10 stacked on top of each other and attached mechanically and electrically together via legs 106 b. This embodiment of the present invention allows for multiple, e.g. four bus bars 102 (2×102 a+2×102 b) to be inserted into electrical connector 10 a. A number of electrical connectors 10 may be stacked and attached together (mechanically and/or electrically) both horizontally and vertically in various combinations.

FIG. 8 shows a side cross sectional view of an electrical connector 10 b according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. A rectangular case 100 made for instance from an electrically conductive material, has two elastic strips 104 attached inside rectangular case 100. Elastic strips 104 are attached together at legs 106 c and to rectangular case 100 (for example using a weld or solder), so that bus bar 106, elastic strips 104 and rectangular case 100 are attached together mechanically and are electrically conductive. An electrical connection for example is made by insertion of bus bar 102 a between the space between the wall of rectangular case 100 and elastic strip 104. Bus bar 102 a is held in place by virtue of the elastic compression that exists between rectangular case 100 and elastic strip 104. Electrical conductivity between bus bar 102 a and bus bar 106 is achieved by one side of bus bar 102 a pressing against rectangular case 100 and the other side of bus bar 102 a pressing against elastic strip 104. Another electrical connection can be made by inserting bus bar 102 b between the two elastic strips 104. A feature of the present invention is that bus bars 102 a, 102 b and bus bar 102 c can be inserted into electrical connector 10 b at the same time allowing for more options when connecting multiple electrical connectors 10 b in various serial and parallel connections of circuits attached between bus bar 106 and bus bar 102 a, 102 b and bus bar 102 b for example.

The definite articles “a”, “an” is used herein, such as “a casing”, “an elastic strip” have the meaning of “one or more” that is “one or more casings” or “one or more elastic strips”.

Examples of various features/aspects/components/operations have been provided to facilitate understanding of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention. In addition, various preferences have been discussed to facilitate understanding of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood that all examples and preferences disclosed herein are intended to be non-limiting.

Although selected embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described individually, it is to be understood that at least aspects of the described embodiments may be combined.

Although selected embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments. Instead, it is to be appreciated that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof. 

We claim:
 1. A photovoltaic panel, comprising: a circuit board; a wall; and an electrical connector, comprising: a casing, comprising a first casing wall, a second casing wall facing the first casing wall, a third casing wall, a fourth casing wall facing the third casing wall, and an extension portion that extends through the wall and electrically connects to the circuit board, the casing forming a first opening to receive a first bus bar and a second bus bar and a second opening to receive a third bus bar and a fourth bus bar; a first elastic strip, comprising a first leg configured to hold the first bus bar against the first casing wall, and a second leg configured to hold the second bus bar against the second casing wall; and a second elastic strip, comprising a third leg configured to hold the third bus bar against the third casing wall, and a fourth leg configured to hold the fourth bus bar against the fourth casing wall.
 2. The photovoltaic panel of claim 1, wherein the first leg comprises a protrusion configured to be inserted into and pass through a hole in the first casing wall.
 3. The photovoltaic panel of claim 1, wherein the extension portion extends from one end of the first casing wall and the other end of the first casing wall forms the first opening.
 4. The photovoltaic panel of claim 1, wherein the extension portion forms a solder hole through which the extension portion is soldered to the circuit board.
 5. The photovoltaic panel of claim 1, wherein the extension portion and the first casing wall are integrally formed from a single sheet of metal.
 6. The photovoltaic panel of claim 1, wherein the first elastic strip is symmetric such that the first leg and the second leg are substantially equivalent in size and shape.
 7. The photovoltaic panel of claim 1, wherein a single bend of the first elastic strip forms the first leg and the second leg.
 8. The photovoltaic panel of claim 7, wherein a single bend of the second elastic strip forms the third leg and the fourth leg.
 9. An electrical connector, comprising: a casing, comprising a first wall, a second wall facing the first wall, a third wall, a fourth wall facing the third wall, and an extension portion configured to electrically connect to a circuit board, the casing forming a first opening to receive a first bus bar and a second bus bar and a second opening to receive a third bus bar and a fourth bus bar; a first elastic strip, comprising a first leg configured to hold the first bus bar against the first wall and a second leg configured to hold the second bus bar against the second wall; and a second elastic strip, comprising a third leg configured to hold the third bus bar against the third wall and a fourth leg configured to hold the fourth bus bar against the fourth wall.
 10. The electrical connector of claim 9, wherein the casing is constructed to receive the first elastic strip through the first opening.
 11. The electrical connector of claim 9, wherein the first leg and the second leg are integrally formed by a single bend of metal.
 12. The electrical connector of claim 11, wherein the third leg and the fourth leg are integrally formed by a single bend of metal.
 13. The electrical connector of claim 9, wherein the fourth leg of the first elastic strip is slotted longitudinally over a portion thereof to form a fifth leg, and wherein the fifth leg is configured to hold a fifth bus bar against the fourth wall.
 14. The electrical connector of claim 9, wherein the first leg comprises a first protrusion that passes through a first hole in the first wall.
 15. The electrical connector of claim 14, wherein the second leg comprises a second protrusion that passes through a second hole in the second wall.
 16. The electrical connector of claim 14, wherein the fourth leg comprises a second protrusion that passes through a second hole in the fourth wall.
 17. The electrical connector of claim 9, wherein the casing is constructed to provide two holes in the first wall through which two protrusions on the first leg are inserted and two holes in the fourth wall through which two protrusions on the fourth leg are inserted.
 18. The electrical connector of claim 9, wherein the first elastic strip is symmetric such that the first leg and the second leg are substantially equivalent in size and shape.
 19. A method, comprising: folding a sheet of metal to form a casing, comprising a first wall, a second wall facing the first wall, a third wall, a fourth wall facing the third wall, and an extension portion configured to electrically connect to a circuit board, wherein the casing forms a first opening to receive a first bus bar and a second bus bar and a second opening to receive a third bus bar and a fourth bus bar; and inserting a first elastic strip through the first opening between the first wall and the second wall, wherein the first elastic strip comprises a first leg configured to hold the first bus bar against the first wall and a second leg configured to hold the second bus bar against the second wall; and inserting a second elastic strip through the second opening between the third wall and the fourth wall, wherein the second elastic strip comprises a third leg configured to hold the third bus bar against the third wall and a fourth leg configured to hold the fourth bus bar against the fourth wall.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: inserting the extension portion through a wall; soldering, through a hole in the extension portion, the extension portion to a solder pad on the circuit board; inserting, through the first opening, the first bus bar between the first wall and the first leg; inserting, through the first opening, the second bus bar between the second wall and the second leg; inserting, through the second opening, the third bus bar between the third wall and the third leg; and inserting, through the second opening, the fourth bus bar between the fourth wall and the fourth leg. 